VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Sam Mack set a franchise
record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 28 points as the
Vancouver Grizzlies held off the Dallas Mavericks, 96-92.

Mack bettered the previous mark of six 3-pointers shared by
Anthony Peeler and Greg Anthony. He also set the team record
with 13 attempts from beyond the arc, previoulsy held by Peeler
and Lawrence Moten.

"When the basket looks huge, all you have to do is shoot it in
the air and just put it in the right direction," said Mack.
"Believe me, when that 7-foot-5 frame (Mavericks center Shawn
Bradley) came into my cross hairs, I thought he was 10 feet and
I put a little extra arc on it and it went in. It felt like I
was throwing it into the ocean all day."

Mack, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Tony Massenburg each scored six
points in a 22-6 run in the third quarter as the Grizzlies
opened a 71-60 lead with 3:36 remaining.

Abdur-Rahim added 24 points and Massenburg 10 for the Grizzlies,
who matched the best five-game start in team history at 2-3,
established by the inaugural 1995-96 squad.

"I thought we found a rhythm a bit in the third quarter and
combined it with some good defensive work," said Grizzlies coach
Brian Hill. "With all the oportunites we had, there were a lot
of open 3-pointers and fortuntately today, Sam had a great
shooting day. We made the plays we needed to."

The Grizzlies snapped a four-game losing streak to the Mavericks
and beat them for just the second time in the last nine games.
Rookie point guard Mike Bibby had 10 points and 10 assists for
Vancouver, which nearly squandered an 11-point fourth-quarter
lead.

Vancouver Island native and local favorite Steve Nash had 18
points and nine assists for the Mavericks but missed a potential
game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute. Samaki Walker added
14 points and Shawn Bradley 10 for Dallas, which fell to 1-3 on
the road.

After an eight-footer by Walker gave the Mavericks a 54-49 lead
with 9:04 to go in the third quarter, Abdur-Rahim had two
baskets around two free throws by Bibby to give Vancouver a
55-54 lead.

Nash pushed Dallas ahead 60-59 at the 5:54 mark, but Mack buried
a pair of 3-pointers around two baskets by Massenburg to give
the Grizzlies a 69-60 lead with 4:10 left. Massenburg completed
the run with a layup 34 seconds later.

"We were much more conscientious of coming out in the third
quarter and picking it up a level," said Abdur-Rahim. "We
really did and everybody's really pleased. It feels good to
win."

A basket by DeJuan Wheat gave Vancouver an 84-73 lead with 9:41
to play before Dallas countered with a 12-4 burst, making it
88-85 on A.C. Green's reverse layup off a feed from Nash with
2:50 left.

The 6-10 Massenburg beat the 7-6 Bradley in the paint for a
layup and Abdur-Rahim had a six-footer after a free throw by
Bradley as Vancouver bumped the lead to six.

A dunk by Finley with 1:21 to play made it 92-89. After a miss
by Bibby, Nash attempted a 26-footer that hit off the rim. The
Mavs got back the ball and worked the ball to the left, but
Robert Pack threw an errant pass intended for Hot Rod Williams.
Abdur-Rahim and Doug West each hit two free throws around a
3-pointer by Nash to seal the victory.

"We were down three with a two-second differential," said Nash
about the final seconds. "Some people started saying, 'Dont
foul, don't foul' We were going to wait for our two-second
chance if we got a stop, but obviously that's a gamble, so
someone decided to foul a little later."

Wheat added nine points and five assists for the Grizzlies, who
shot 43 percent (35-of-81) and received 21 points from their
reserves.

Finley was held to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting for Dallas,
which shot 46 percent (37-of-80) but committed 18 turnovers that
led to 23 points for Vancouver.

"It's such a crazy season right now," said Bradley, who pulled
down 10 rebounds. "As a team we need to continue to work and
come together. We have to understand our rotations and how to
play defensively with one another. It's crazy with all these
games coming so fast."